The heat wave broke this week. Wednesday was warm and clear with cool\nbreezes blowing from the north. A new\nbatch of begonias brightened the hill on the other side of the Central Park\nWest wall. Deep in the underbrush, a\nsingle stand of white phlox captures the eye. \nCleome and gomphrena populate the area behind the benches, while the\nrose bushes, devoid of roses, have only wine-red growing tips to show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Imagine Mosaic, the guitarist sings \u201cHey, Jude,\u201d\naccompanied by a blond soprano who shattered the upper registers with her \u201cbetter,\nbetter, better, better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Past jewelweed and astilbe, around the corner from Daniel\nWebster, the jazz combo performs from the American Songbook. The park is packed. At Bethesda Fountain, three amplified\nbuskers, a violin and 2 guitars, are duking it out. On this, among the most beautiful days of the\nsummer, I easily summoned the aloha spirit and kept walking to the maple, where\n3 caricaturists were duking it out. As I\nset up I asked the closest one, \u201cYou don\u2019t mind, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot at all,\u201d he said. \n\u201cIt\u2019s nice background music for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of the first 30 minutes, no one had given me anything. During the next 30 minutes, a 40-something\nSpanish man dumped $1.10 in coin into my case. \nIn the final 30 minutes, I stopped two 30-something guys and talked them\ninto a hula. It was a sedate\ninterpretation of \u201cThe Hukilau Song\u201d until one of the men broke loose with\nwaving arms, yelps and leaps. He then\ntore off his lei with a dramatic gesture and handed it back to me, along with a\n$5 bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By then, with $6.10 in my pocket, it was time to go home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"